The legal terms “Copyright” and “Trademark” can be a bit confusing for people who are not familiar with these two different types of intellectual property.
There are two primary categories of intellectual property: copyright and trademark. Copyright is a form of intellectual property that gives a creator the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute and modify the work. Trademarks are a type of intellectual property that is owned by a company. They can be used to distinguish a company’s products or services from others in the market.
In this post, we’ll explain what the differences are between these two types of intellectual property which are Copyright and Trademark, how they differ from each other, and which one is better suited for your business.
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What is Copyright?
Copyright is a form of intellectual property that gives a creator the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute and modify the work. Copyright law is established by Congress. This means that copyright laws are enacted by Congress, not by individual states or countries.
Copyright can protect a wide variety of creative works, such as books, movies, songs, and computer programs. In addition to giving creators the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute and modify their works, copyright protects the original expression of the work.
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What is Trademark?
Trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design that identifies and distinguishes your business from others. A trademark can be used to identify the source of goods or services and may include words, letters, designs, colours, sounds, smells and images.
The owner of a trademark has the right to prevent others from using the trademark in connection with similar goods or services.
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Which One Is Better Suited for Your Business?
Copyright is the term that describes the legal rights of an author, composer or producer of creative works. These rights protect the rights of the creator of the work.
Copyright law was made to protect authors, composers, and producers of creative works from unauthorized copying of their creations. It provides a framework for the protection of all types of copyrighted works. That includes literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and architectural works. Copyright is distinct from patent law, which concerns inventions.
Trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design that identifies and distinguishes your business from others. Trademarks are protected under trademark law. Generally trademarks are used to distinguish goods or services from those of competitors. For example, if you own a restaurant and you want to sell your customers your specialty food, you might want to use the term “Chicken Fried Steak”. So trademark is used by industries like clothing, pharmaceuticals, and toys.
In order to protect a trademark, you must register it with the Patent and Trademark Office in your country. The trademark office will look at your claim of ownership and decide whether or not it is worth protecting.
Conclusion
The first step in protecting your intellectual property is to register it with the Copyright Office in your country. You should also keep in mind that trademark law only protects the “word, phrase, symbol, or device” that you want to use to identify your product or service. Generally, IPR lawyers can help you with the registration. You can find good IPR lawyers online. For e.g., if you are in Delhi, simply search for IPR lawyers in Delhi and hire the best.
You should also register your trademark if you’re planning to sell products under the mark. If you don’t register your trademark, you may be able to register it later. You can also file a lawsuit if someone else uses your trademark without permission.
